On Friday, January 3, 2025, the Indian stock market witnessed a sharp decline in the later trading hours, with the BSE Sensex plunging by over 700 points and the Nifty falling by more than 200. The downturn in IT, pharma, healthcare, and banking stocks primarily drove the drop, causing a ripple effect across the broader market.
At 3:10 PM IST, the Sensex had fallen by 749.13 points, or 0.94%, reaching 79,194.58. Simultaneously, the Nifty dropped by 202.85 points, or 0.84%, settling at 23,985.80. Despite this significant downturn, only 13 of the 30 Sensex stocks and 18 of the 50 Nifty stocks were in the green.
Stocks Facing the Most Losses Among the Sensex constituents, Zomato Ltd experienced the steepest fall, dropping 4.02% to ₹273.40. Tech Mahindra Ltd and HDFC Bank followed closely with declines of 2.63% (₹1,682.20) and 2.56% (₹1,747.50), respectively.
In the Nifty stocks, Wipro Ltd saw the largest dip, falling 3.21% to ₹294.05. HDFC Bank and Tech Mahindra were also among the biggest losers, with drops of 2.59% (₹1,747.35) and 2.54% (₹1,683), respectively.
Sectors Taking the Hardest Hits The Nifty IT sector led the decline among sectoral indices, falling by 1.38%, settling at 43,738.65. The Nifty Pharma sector followed with a 1.27% drop to 23,254.20, while the Nifty Healthcare and Nifty Bank indices saw declines of 1.23% (14,890.20) and 1.16% (51,008.95), respectively.
Market Opening and Gradual Downturn The market’s slump was not immediate; it opened in the red, with both indices showing early losses. At 9:30 AM IST, the Sensex was down by 248.13 points (0.31%) at 79,695.58, while the Nifty fell by 57.45 points (0.24%) to 24,131.20, before continuing to decline throughout the day.
The widespread sell-off across multiple sectors reflects growing investor concerns and market volatility, with tech, pharma, and banking stocks at the forefront of the downturn.
